An Overture- a Dramione story
by EmpressTheodora12
Summary: A new course introduced presents some problems to Hogwarts' eighth years. Problems include: Hermione's first Peer Tutoring session, new and interesting crushes, and a battle to graduate top of the class.
1. Chapter 1- The Tuning

**Disclaimer:** I am not J.K. Rowling, a fact which will be perfectly evident from my writing.

Chapter I

The Tuning

"I'm so excited to be going back to Hogwarts, aren't you?" Luna asked, putting down her copy of _Witch Weekly_. They were on the Hogwarts train. The war was over and everything was back to normal.

"Yeah, I'm really excited. I'm glad that they offered the option of attending Hogwarts another year for former 7th years." Hermione answered.

"I didn't see Ro-Sorry Hermione" Luna apologized. Ron had, for lack of a better word, "dumped" Hermione after just 4 months of them being together after the war. He said that it "just wasn't working out" and that he wanted to be just friends. It still hurt.

"It's fine." Hermione said, "He sent me a postcard over the summer. He's in Australia studying dragons with his brother Charlie."

"Great. So what classes are you taking this year?" Luna asked, trying to change the topic. Hermione had copied her schedule down on a piece of parchment that was now stored in the pocket of her robes. She didn't even need to reference it, for she had already knew it by heart.

"I'm taking Arithmancy, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Basic Wizarding Law, Magical Zoology, Intermediate Astrology, Advanced Herbology, Advanced Charms, and Advanced Potions." Hermione recited.

"The schedule is kind of weird this year, isn't it?" Luna asked

"Yeah. There seem to be less classes. That leaves us with more free time, at least enough for one other class." Hermione remarked, puzzled.

"Ah, well, they'll probably clear it up when we arrive." the Ravenclaw said, picking up her magazine again. Hermione peered out the window at the speeding countryside. Whatever it was, things were definitely going to be different this year.

Draco was anticipating the start-of-the-year feast. The Ministry had placed him and his family on something the Muggles call "house arrest". Basically what it meant was being imprisoned in his home with nothing to do for an entire summer. None of his old friends had sent him any mail either. Many Slytherins were still angry at the Malfoys after the Battle of Hogwarts. Others were simply uncomfortable. Draco didn't even _want_ to return to school. He didn't _want_ to be an outsider. But his parents insisted. " _You've got to get an education, Draco."_ they said. " _You're an intelligent, talented boy who could go very far in life. And you've got to nourish that"_ Draco huffed. He didn't _feel_ like the intelligent, talented boy his parents told him he was. He used to. But not any more. He wasn't even intelligent or talented enough to beat that Mudblood, Hermione Granger. Draco shook his head. Thinking about her and her filthy blood wasn't going to benefit him at all. What he should focus on is being the top of the 8th year class. He just wish he had someone to talk to.


	2. Chapter 2- The Warm-Up

Chapter II

The Warm-Up

After the Sorting, the new Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, stepped up to the podium and cleared her throat loudly. The entire hall fell silent at once.

"Greetings, students and teachers. Welcome to our newly Sorted first-years. And welcome back to the rest of you." many people clapped and cheered. Some patted the small and timid newcomers on the backs. Hermione smiled to remember how amazing and other-worldly Hogwarts had been for her. Even 8 years later, the magical world still never ceased to amaze her.

"I have some announcements to make before we begin the start-of-the-year feast. Firstly, I would like you all to welcome our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Nicomedes Darnell." everyone clapped politely as a young man, probably in his late-twenties to mid-thirties with a handsome smile and dark hair and eyes, stood up. Parvati Patil leaned over and whispered in Hermione's ear,

"Gosh, I hope this one doesn't get killed. He doesn't look all that bad." Parvati joked. Hermione giggled and shushed her so that she could hear what the Headmistress was saying next

"Secondly, I'd like to bring attention to our eighth years. Again, welcome back. Thank you for choosing to join us at Hogwarts another year." she waited for the applause to stop.

"Unfortunately, our regular dorms seem to have no room for you so we have decided to renovate part of what was formerly part of the Forbidden third-floor corridor. If eighth years could please stay behind for direction to their dormitories. And lastly, we are introducing a new course to all Hogwarts students." confused murmurs were heard all throughout the hall.

"What?" Parvati whispered, shocked, "They can't introduce a new course, can they?"

"Actually, they can. Isn't that what the Carrows did? When they took over Hogwarts?" Luna whispered back.

"I guess so, but..." whatever Parvati was going to say was cut off when Headmistress McGonagall cleared her throat loudly once again.

"The new course will be called Introduction to Musical Magic. You will all start at beginner's level. In this new course, you will learn how to play magical instruments such as the linovi, the putterm, and the niopa." Hermione giggled at the nonsense-sounding words and at the imagined reactions of her parents when she tells them what magical instrument she will be playing.

"After the feast, when you go to your dorms, the teachers will come and show you how you are to be Sorted, in a way, into different instrument groups." the Headmistress seemed to sense the confusion in the Hall.

"The teachers thought that the school could use a new course." this time, when she spoke, her voice was much softer.

"This new course- it was something former Headmaster Albus Dumbledore wanted to arrange before he left Hogwarts. He-he never got the chance. The teachers and I thought it would be something nice and new to do." she cleared her throat to regain her composure.

"Now please do enjoy the feast!" McGonagall finished as food appeared on the table. A few kids cheered and everyone started eating.


	3. Chapter 3- The First Measure

Chapter III

The First Measure

Draco almost laughed out loud when he heard what instruments they would be playing. He remembered his father teaching him the tricks to playing the niopa when he was little. But even then, his father was commanding and strict. He would not tolerate little Draco's whining after hours upon hours of practising one particular piece that he still, to this day, had not mastered. He had felt like a failure that day. Almost laughed. Almost.

"Eighth years, up here please." McGonagall called while the younger students followed their prefects to their dorms after the feast. Draco walked up alone.

"Professor Darnell will escort you to your dorms and give you your password." she said, dismissing them. The attention turned over to the new DADA teacher. He clapped his hands.

"Well, if you'll follow me then." he said, with a faint but recognizable German lilt. The students followed him to the staircase. Draco saw many of his old "friends" from seventh year, but he didn't dare approach them out of fear of being rejected, shunned, and humiliated on his first day of eighth year.

"We're here!" Darnell announced cheerfully when they reached a statue in the third-floor corridor after a brief walk. The statue was an old and weathered depiction of a warrior with cobwebs stretching between its shield and double-edged sword. Some students whispered their uncertainty as to how this statue could be the entrance to their common room and dorms. Then the professor winked as to say _watch this_. He walked up to the statue.

"Tumtriddle." he whispered in the statue's ear. Then the statue sprang into motion, startling some students. Draco smiled at their amazement. He had lived in the wizarding world all his life and he never stopped learning new things about magic. The statue slammed the butt of it's sword into the wall behind it. The wall slid open with a loud grinding noise that was made louder by the silently stupefied and wonder-struck students. The sliding wall revealed a warmly lit common room that was colored with every house color. With deep green furniture on a blended blue and white carpet accessorised with white pillows patterned with yellow and red flowers. There were banners hanging across the room for every house and 4 different doorways leading to 4 different staircases. 2 of which were going downstairs and the other 2, upstairs. Professor Darnell turned to face the students.

"The first doorway on the left leads to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw boys' dorms. The second doorway on the left leads to the Slytherin and Hufflepuff boys' dorms." Draco groaned. He glanced over at where Neville Longbottom was standing with Hannah Abbott and her boyfriend, Ernie MacMillan. _I have to share a dorm with_ _Hufflepuffs_ _?_ He thought. _This year could not possibly get any worse._ Then he spotted the Muggle-born Hermione Granger standing nearby with Parvati Patil and Loony Lovegood. _I was wrong._ He said in his mind. _It got worse_. Before the voice in his head could jinx anything else,he turned his attention back to the professor just as he finished directing the girls to their dorms.

"And for those of you who did not hear, the password is "Tumtriddle". A teacher will be around shortly to Sort you into your instrument groups. Goodnight!" he left the common room. At least half of the students left the room left to explore the dorms, Hermione included. This left Draco and some Ravenclaws debating how to properly turn a dog into a bar stool. Draco went to explore the room's small selection of books and, choosing one, sat down in front of the fire to read. He already knew that it was going to be a long year.


	4. Chapter 4- The First Movment

Chapter IV

The First Movement

Hermione was extremely glad that Gryffindors shared with Ravenclaws. She was sure she wouldn't be able to survive the year without Luna and Par (short for Parvati). They went up to their dorms immediately after the handsome DADA professor finished his announcement. The dorms were large but cozy, 20 four-poster beds arranged in a circle around a stove to keep them warm on cold nights. The room was painted and furnished in various shades of blue, silver, red, and gold. The fire was already lit and their bags and trunks already sat at the foot of their beds. After making sure all of her belongings were present (they always were), Hermione wanted to go explore the common room some more.

"Hey, Par, I'm going to go up." Hermione said.

"Oh okay. See you in a bit Mione." Par replied cheerfully. Hermione rolled her eyes at the silly nickname her friends gave her. When she reached the common room, she wanted to find a book to read and settle down on the green couch, but in entering, she found that someone else had the same idea. Draco Malfoy seemed absorbed in his book and, she noticed, quite lonely. Hermione shook her head. _Remember who he is, Hermione. He's the boy who tortured and bullied you for years! He's not some sad puppy for you to comfort!_ Her inner voice scolded her. So she grabbed a book about identifying magical rocks and minerals and their purposes. She sat down in one of the armchairs and tried to read. But she couldn't help glancing at Malfoy every now and then. He barely looked up when she sat down. She pretended to read about the magical purposes of rocks, but she was really focusing on Draco Malfoy. She could see that there were bags under his eyes, his hair was not as perfectly slicked down as usual, and his grey-blue eyes were not as piercing and sharp as they normally were. She virtually smacked herself. _Stop it. He's probably fine. This is probably some sick guise to make everyone_ _think_ _he's weak and pitiful._ Hermione thought. _But then again...maybe not…_ Hermione shook her head to clear it and slammed her book shut, louder than she intended to. Draco looked up, his minor annoyance evident in his eyes.

"Could you keep it down, Granger? I'm trying to read." his voice had lost some of the sting that had made Hermione wince when he spoke all those years earlier.

"Sorry." she apologized quickly before hurrying to the bookcase and then upstairs to see what Par and Luna were doing. When she was at the top of the staircase, she looked back at the lonely and sad figure of Draco Malfoy. He wasn't the King of Slytherin that she remembered.

So what happened?


	5. Chapter 5- The Second Movement

**Sorry about the time gap between the updates! I will try working on this piece more often!**

Chapter V

The Second Movement

Shortly after Granger had left the common room ( _quite_ _noisily_ , the voice in Draco's head added), Headmistress McGonagall came in through the sliding wall with the Sorting hat.

"Attention students!" she called. She turned to a quiet Ravenclaw standing nearby.

"Mr. Bells. Could you please alert the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor boys?" Bells hurried off.

"And you, Ms. Miller, Ms. Jacob, and Mr. Malfoy." Draco started at the mention of his name. Why was he called? He was to fetch the rest of the boys from Slytherin and Hufflepuff for the Sorting. He got up reluctantly, wishing it were someone other than him. He walked slowly up the stairs and towards the boys dorm. Inside the dorm were none other than Blaise Zabini, Goyle, Ernie MacMillan, and several other Hufflepuffs and Slytherins. When Draco stepped in, everyone stopped talking and stared at him.

"I-uh-Sorting-Musical Sorting-downstairs-McGonagall sent me to fetch you-" Draco managed to stammer. All the Hufflepuffs and some Slytherins left immediately, until only Draco, Zabini, and his "followers" were left in the dormitory.

"She sent you to _fetch_ us, did you say?" Zabini said.

"What on Earth does she think give you the right to _fetch_ us?" he said, the sneer prominent in his voice.

"Nothing." Draco said.

"I was just sitting closer to the entrance. Obviously, Blaise. If you had any brain cells at all, you would have come to this conclusion earlier." Draco smirked as many of the Slytherins in the room chuckled at Draco's comment. Zabini clenched his fists and growled, his face red from both embarrassment and anger. Everyone could tell that he was going to take a swing at Draco.

"Come on guys the Sorting is starting!" one of the Slytherins in the common room called. One by one, the remaining Slytherins began to leave the dorm. Zabini, on his way out, stopped Malfoy and spoke so quietly that no one but them could hear.

"You watch your back _Ferret_ _Boy_. Because next time we meet, you won't be so lucky." he hissed threateningly. Draco watched Zabini, new king of Slytherin, march down the stairs before doing so himself.

"Alright students, gather around!" Headmistress McGonagall called. She held up the Sorting Hat.

"The Hat has just been charmed to sort you into your music groups." she said.

"The drill is the same. You will all line up, and one at a time, you will each sit on...this stool." she looked around briefly before pulling up a stool nearby.

"The Hat will then assess your musical talents and Sort you into your appropriate music group." she said. Simple.

"All right then. Line up." she commanded at the students hurried to line up before the stool. One by one, they were each Sorted into different instrument groups. Hermione stood in front of Luna and Par. When it was her turn, the Hat barely hesitated.

"NIOPA!" the Hat shouted. Hermione had barely any reaction at all, for she didn't know what a niopa was. Then it was Luna's turn. The Hat paused for about a minute before yelling its answer.

"PUTTERM!" Hermione almost groaned. _Darn it._ She thought. _Well maybe Par will be playing the same instrument._ But Hermione wasn't so lucky.

"PUTTERM!" the Hat shouted when it was Par's turn, after a long hesitation. _Seriously? This could literally not get any worse._ Hermione thought. But she still wasn't lucky. She saw Malfoy shuffle up to the stool, looking even more depressed than when she had seen him reading a few minutes ago. He sat down and the Headmistress placed the Hat on his head. The Hat thought for a moment. And another moment. And another moment. And finally it had its answer.

"NIOPA!" the Hat shouted. Now Hermione audibly groaned. _Great._ She thought. _Par and Luna get to be in the same group, and I'm stuck with_ _Malfoy_ _._ Hermione didn't pay attention to the rest of the Sortings. All she was thinking about was how it was going to be a long year.


	6. Chapter 6- The Third Movement

Chapter VI

The Third Movement

The rest of the year was pretty normal (as far as eighth years in Hogwarts go). Hermione and Draco soon realized that they had many classes together. These classes included Defence Against the Dark Arts, Basic Wizarding Law, Advanced Charms, and Advanced Potions. And, of course, lessons on how to play the niopa. Hermione soon learned that the niopa was an instrument almost like a Muggle keyboard. Except, the keys were brown and red, and there were 3 rows of keys. The first row had exactly 14 keys and were all brown. The second row had exactly 15 keys and all of them were red. And the last row had 13 keys and all of them were brown. And they all made different sounds. Hermione was doing horribly in niopa. This was a new sensation for her because she had always excelled in everything she had every tried to do. She had nearly memorized every book accessible about how to play the niopa. She still couldn't get it right. So the teacher, Miss Antoinette Darling (yes that's her actual name), signed Hermione up for Peer Tutoring. Hermione was humiliated. Her first session was next Wednesday.

Meanwhile, on Draco's side of the river, he was back at Hogwarts for more and was hating every minute of it. The Hufflepuffs were _unbearably_ good and nice about everything. And the Slytherins treated Blaise Zabini like a king and at the same time, treated Draco Malfoy like the dirt on the bottom of their shoe. It seemed Draco was failing at everything now. _Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start forging my grades so my parents don't know how badly I'm doing_. He thought. The Advanced Charms teacher, Professor Flitwick, even had the nerve to sign Draco up for some Peer Tutoring sessions! His first session was the next Friday! He was so embarrassed, he considered skipping. But he decided that that decision would ultimately get him into more trouble than failing old Flitwick's class would.

So both students have a Peer Tutor now…

When Wednesday finally came, Hermione decided that being all huffy about it wouldn't help her at all. So she decided to walk in, head held high, and not letting pride get the best of her. The walked into her Peer Tutoring class after dinner in the assigned room and almost tripped. Draco Malfoy was sitting in the middle of the room! She was not told who would be her Peer Tutor! She should have asked! He turned around when he heard the door open.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"Sorry, I must have the wrong room." Hermione apologized.

"See, I'm supposed to be going to..uh...peer tutoring." she spoke her last words so quietly so that Malfoy wouldn't hear her.

"What was that? You're headed to Peer Tutoring? What for?" he asked, slightly surprised. Hermione was shocked. He wasn't gloating. She wondered why.

"For...uh...niopa." she said. A look of surprise flitted over Draco's face.

"Then you're in the right place." he said indifferently.

"Lets get started." he said as he waved his wand and a niopa slid out of a nearby wall.

"Sit." she sat. He then asked her to play some scales for him. Even Hermione could tell that they were really bad. He stopped her halfway through.

"It seems we have some work to do." he said, rubbing his forehead. They spent hours trying to improve everything, from hand positioning to note accuracy. By the time they finally made some progress, it was almost dinnertime. Hermione gathered her belongings quickly and hurried to the door. She paused and turned around.

"Thank you." she said, knowing how stressful and hard this was for Draco.

"I'm just doing my job Granger. Don't think that knowing how to play the niopa a little better makes you less of a mudblood." he said, a tinge of his familiar sting returning to his voice. The words should have made Hermione hurt, but they just didn't. In fact, she felt even worse for Draco Malfoy. Or, more accurately, the shadow of Draco Malfoy, devoid of everything that had originally made her hate him.

When Friday rolled around for Draco, he was exhausted. Between late-night studying to beat the mudblood in his classes and being bullied around by Blaise and his goons, Draco just couldn't put up with any more nonsense. So he _really_ didn't want to go to his tutoring session. He was tired, irritable, hungry (he'd skipped lunch to avoid the "Zabini Worshippers"), and just wasn't in the mood to be ticked off even more.

He slammed the door of the assigned classroom and was shocked to see Hermione Granger sitting at a desk in the otherwise unoccupied classroom, reviewing the spells to go over. She looked shocked as well. For once in her mudblood life, Hermione Granger was speechless.

"Well let's get started then." he said, trying to force some bite into his words.

"I didn't come here to sit around and waste my time!" Draco's sharply edged words jarred Hermione out of her shock.

"Right-well if you could sit down-" Draco pulled up a seat at the opposite end of the desk and struggled to pay attention as Hermione explained the fundamentals of casting the Shrinking Charm.


	7. Chapter 7- Repeat

Chapter VII

Repeat

Hermione and Draco met twice every other week. On both Wednesdays and Fridays. Both learned to resent those days of the week. Neither of them were really improving in the subjects they were supposed to be getting help in.

"Hermione, dear, the whole point of assigning you a tutor was so that you could _improve_ in playing the niopa. Yet, your progress is, at best my dear, halted completely." Professor Darling politely explained to Hermione after a disastrous lesson. Hermione almost growled at her.

When the Hermione's next tutoring session came up, she entered without a word and placed her bag on a chair. Normally, Draco would gesture at the niopa and Hermione would play her clumsy scales and torturous practice piece. Normally, Draco would sigh and tell her what she was doing wrong. Then Hermione's "spines" would "bristle" and she would snap back at him. Then they would start arguing. But today was different for some reason. About halfway through her practice piece, Draco told her to stop.

"Obviously this isn't working. We need to take a different approach." Draco said. Hermione didn't quite understand what he meant. What does he mean by "take a different approach"?

Instead of trying to teach Hermione the textbook way to play the niopa, he began teaching her the same little tricks that his father taught him when he was young. They started over again with hand positioning.

"Keep your hands and wrists loose." he reminded her.

"Think of it like holding a fragile egg." he repeated what his father told him all those years ago.

"Like this?" Hermione asked, hands stiff and tense.

"No, you're crushing the egg." Draco said. He walked over and sat next to Hermione on the bench. Hermione automatically scooched away from where Draco now sat. He grabbed her hands. She tried to pull them away but Draco held on, determined to make sure she got this right.

"Hey." he said. Hermione looked at him.

"Trust me, I kinda know what I'm doing." Draco said. Hermione relaxed a little bit, but only a little. He placed her hands on the niopa keys and positioned her fingers correctly.

"There." he said.

"Perfect." he looked up. Hermione was staring at him. For the first time, he realized that her eyes were a shade of warm chestnut with tiny flecks of gold. How had he never seen that before? Hermione looked down at the niopa keys. Draco blushed when he realized that he was still holding her hands. He took his hands off and the spell broke.

He cleared his throat and stood up, "Anyway...I think our time is up." Hermione stood up as well.

"Yeah…well I should be going…" she said. Draco grabbed his bag and headed out of the room in which sat the girl with the pretty chestnut-gold eyes.

Hermione walked back to the eighth year common rooms to catch up on homework after her Peer Tutoring session. She was very confused about what had just happened. _Draco Malfoy grabbed your hands!_ That annoying voice in her head chose _this_ time to speak. _He could be manipulating you! Constant vigilance! But what if he's not?_ Hermione shook her head to clear it. She had more important things to focus on. For example, she had a Basic Wizaring Law paper to finish by tomorrow and a Defence Against The Dark Arts essay to start.

She walked into the cozy common room and waved to Par and Luna who were sitting in the corner. She walked up to them and put her bag down.

"So, have you just come back from another _horrendous_ Peer Tutoring session with the _great and terrible Draco Malfoy_?" Parvati teased. She knew how much Hermione hated having to be tutored by Malfoy. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I have. And it wasn't _horrendous_. It was just _bleh_." Hermione replied, a slight smile on her face.

"Besides, I need to focus on my homework. Have you done the DADA essay yet?" Hermione redirected the conversation.

"Oh yes, I think I have it here somewhere…" Luna searched though her bags.

"Luna, your DADA essay is upstairs in our dorms. I remember you leaving it there yesterday." Parvati reminded Luna.

"It is?"

"Come on, let's go check." Parvati said as she and Luna got up.

"Are you coming Hermione?" Luna asked.

"What? No, thanks. I think I'll stay down here. I have more...ah...homework." _Well it's not a_ _total_ _lie._ Hermione thought. _I_ _do_ _have homework to do. But what I really need is time to think._ She looks at her hands. _Lots and lots of time to think..._


End file.
